1. Sword Daughter's Quest
Author: Rhondi Vilott Salsitz (credited on cover as Rhondi Vilott)
Illustrators: Tom Hallman (cover), Michael Gilbert (interior)
First Published: July, 1984
ISBN: 0-451-13082-0
Length: 205 pages (introductory section plus 58 "Pathways")
Number of Endings: 22
Plot Summary: The daughter of a general, you are currently on a trip
through the Wastes, building your fighting skills so that you can compete in
the Warrior Games. Alas, things go downhill for you quickly....
My Thoughts: This book definitely gets the series off to a strong
start. It drops the reader quickly into a comfortably familiar fantasy world
that seems to be influenced about equally by Tolkien's Middle-earth (there's
no doubt that The Hobbit was a major inspiration) and the basic
Dungeons & Dragons world (familiar character classes are present).
Talk of orcs and elves might confuse a reader completely unfamiliar with the
staples of high fantasy, but the lack of excessive explanation of such things
is a great relief to veteran fantasy readers. This intentional vagueness
also makes it possible for the reader to mentally mould the adventure to fit
into the fantasy world of his or her choice. Really, just about everything
in the adventure seems fairly generic, from the setting and monsters to the
heroes and villains. This didn't bother me, though, since all these generic
elements are handled with a certain degree of skill. -- some of the creature
encounters were inspired even if the actual creatures were familar (there's a
bit with a giant water spider that I particularly enjoyed, for example), and
the characters are fairly well-defined, even though the length of the book
doesn't really allow them to be developed into anything particularly
memorable. My only real complaint about the book involves its romantic
elements -- although the story's romance is not entirely unreasonable in
concept, the writing style periodically lapses into gaudy prose that
undermines the message somewhat and dispels any hope of subtlety. I might
have found the romance more believable and moving if there had been less
discussion of trembling hands and deep violet eyes. Still, this problem is
only gets really annoying on certain paths through an otherwise enjoyable
book. Since this is a pretty quick read despite the length of its sections,
it's not too hard to overlook its flaws.
2. Runesword!
Author: Rhondi Vilott Salsitz (credited on cover as Rhondi Vilott)
Illustrators: Tom Hallman (cover), Michael Gilbert (interior)
First Published: July, 1984
ISBN: 0-451-13083-9
Length: 203 pages (introductory section plus 55 "Pathways")
Number of Endings: 21
Plot Summary: You are a young shepherd, and your boring life is
enlivened a bit when your grazing trip leads you to a crystal-filled tunnel
leading deep into the realm of the dwarf king.
My Thoughts: This book is both better and worse than its predecessor.
Its use of romance is much more restrained and subtle than the last book's,
but at the same time it's also less believable because the reader's potential
romantic interest is (to me at least) a really irritating character. As in
the last book, the fantasy elements on display are fairly generic in nature
(except perhaps for some unusual dragon flies and the unfortunately-named Mud
Goons). As before, though, this doesn't prevent the adventure from being
satisfying -- although I wasn't surprised by anything that happened, I still
managed to enjoy the trip. I have only a few other minor complaints. First
of all, some of the writing is a bit awkward; there are some word and
punctuation choices that bothered me a bit. Secondly, the pacing and
continuity aren't always right -- at one point, I ran into the dwarf king and
couldn't help feeling that I'd missed something, even though I really hadn't.
At another point, I was asked if I wanted to use one of the old man's gifts
when I hadn't actually run into the old man on that adventure. I also wasn't
too pleased by the inclusion of a space-wasting "give up and don't have
an adventure" choice. Finally, the challenge level is fairly low; I
reached an optimal ending on the first try without feeling too stressed out
by any of the choices along the way. It turns out that this is because there
are a lot of successful paths through the book. Since I always find it
harder to motivate myself to replay a gamebook after a successful ending than
after a failure, I would probably have missed out on a lot of the interesting
events of the book if I had not been motivated to read it thoroughly for
reviewing purposes. Ultimately, this book won't challenge your
decision-making skills too much, nor will it change the way you think about
fantasy... but it's not a bad way to kill an hour or two, or even more if
your motivation to replay is stronger than mine.
3. Challenge of the Pegasus Grail
Author: Rhondi Vilott Salsitz (credited on cover as Rhondi Vilott)
Illustrators: Tom Hallman (cover), Freya Tanz (interior)
First Published: August, 1984
ISBN: 0-451-13084-7
Length: 189 pages (introductory section plus 63 "Pathways")
Number of Endings: 29
Plot Summary: While hiding in the palace in an effort to acquire some
of the prince's hair for a love charm, you overhear dire news from the king
and determine to do what you can to save the kingdom from the evil
Blackthorn.
My Thoughts: In many ways, I found this to be the best book so far in
the series. As before, the setting is familiar enough to make it easy for
any reader accustomed to fantasy tales to understand what's going on, and,
as an added bonus, the writing is decent and the choices feel meaningful.
What made the book stand out for me most, though, was its effective
characterization -- I found the characters more likeable and believable than
those in past adventures, and the romantic element of the story actually
makes sense here. Unlike the "romance by default" found in all too
many romantic stories, the relationship here is actually based on the
characters' history together. It's amazing what a difference a believable
context makes. My only major complaint is that the book is rather short.
While some paths are longer than others, most are shorter than one would like
them to be, and all too many end without resolving the whole story. I would
probably have enjoyed myself more if there were fewer (but longer) pathways.
A sequel wouldn't have hurt either, though considering the many possible
endings here, there would be no easy way to follow this story up, which I
suppose demonstrates an inherent problem (though not necessarily a flaw) in
gamebooks that don't have a single, predetermined happy conclusion.
Errata: On page 114, a choice says to turn to Pathway 35 on page 107,
but Pathway 35 actually begins on page 105.
4. The Towers of Rexor
Author: Rhondi Vilott Salsitz (credited on cover as Rhondi Vilott)
Illustrators: Tom Hallman (cover), Freya Tanz (interior)
First Published: August, 1984
ISBN: 0-451-13085-5
Length: 189 pages (introductory section plus 55 "Pathways")
Number of Endings: 25
Plot Summary: You are a young bard about to meet the king of the
court in which you have been sent to work. Alas, all is not well in the
kingdom, and you will soon need to use your skills for more than
entertainment....
Translation: French
My Thoughts: This book is a bit better-paced than the last one; most
of its paths are satisfyingly long, and there's a lot of exploration to do
along the way, making for decent replay value. Unfortunately, in other
respects, it's not as strong. Things start out promisingly enough, with the
reader being given decent motivation for going on a quest and with the
story's villain sounding like a complex and potentially interesting character
rather than yet another boring megalomaniac. Unfortunately, though, the book
doesn't really use its promise to its fullest. On many paths, the reader
never discovers exactly what is going on, and even when explanations are
given, they tend to dramatically contradict one another. This inconsistency
actually made me like the book less and less with each reading -- I started
over a few times so that I could find out more about what seemed like a
complex story, but each reading further suggested that there actually wasn't
anything like a coherent plot hiding in the book. Some of the individual
paths are quite interesting, but their lack of unity undermines the book as a
whole. In the end, I was mostly frustrated, which is a shame, since some of
these pieces could have been put together into a much more effective whole.
5. The Unicorn Crown
Author: Rhondi Vilott Salsitz (credited on cover as Rhondi Vilott)
Illustrators: Tom Hallman (cover), Freya Tanz (interior)
First Published: October, 1984
ISBN: 0-451-13202-5
Length: 189 pages (introductory section plus 49 "Pathways")
Number of Endings: 22
Plot Summary: Although your current occupation involves washing
dishes, you are an ambitious weaver and hope to someday be rich. For the
moment, though, you'll be happy to catch a glimpse of the unicorn that is
predicted to determine a new ruler for your currently kingless land....
My Thoughts: I found this book rather more entertaining than the
previous one. Although its paths are fairly diverse in length and nature,
the ones I traveled down were not overly contradictory of one another. It's
by no means the best of the series, though. The characterization is a little
thin, with the potential romantic interests not seeming overly alluring and
the player character displaying at least one emotional outburst that is more
startling to the player than it is effective to the story. The adventure
itself works adequately, especially along its lengthier pathways, but its
effectiveness is undermined by the fact that the big dangers that threaten
the reader are too easily defeated. The book doesn't conjure up the feeling
of overcoming great obstacles that can be found in more challenging quests,
and its characters don't do enough to fill the void left by the missing
threats. The presence of enough typos and errors to suggest a certain degree
of editorial indifference are a final black mark on the book. This is by no
means an awful book, but it's not much more than average.
Errata: The second choice in the introduction should lead to page
162, not page 63. The choices on page 118 list page numbers in place of
pathway numbers.
6. Black Dragon's Curse
7. Spellbound
8. The Dungeons of Dregnor
9. Aphrodite's Mirror
10. Hall of the Gargoyle King
11. Maiden of Greenwold
12. Storm Rider
13. Pledge of Peril
14. Secret of the Sphinx
